Railway traffic counter



March 11, 1958 G. w. TAYLOR 2,826,363

RAILWAY TRAFFIC COUNTER Filed May 28, 1953 ml D ibis@ United StatesPatent Office '2,826,363 Patented Mar. 11, 1958 RAILWAY TRAFFIC COUNTERGordon W. Taylor, Atchison, Kans., assigner to The gcomotive FinishedMaterial Company, Atchison,

Application May z8, 1953, serial No. 358,098

3 Claims. (Cl. 23S-91) The invention relates to traffic counters forrailways.

One object of the invention is to provide a traffic counter which can bereadily mounted in operative position on a railway rail.

Another object of the invention is to provide a traiiic counter which isapplicable to a railway track and is simpleand ruggedv in constructionand efficient in operation.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the detaileddescription.

The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter setforth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of a device embodying the invention'.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, the railway rail on which the device ismounted and the housing' for the counter being shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig; 4. is a section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of the supporting bracket for the trafficcounter.

Fig. 6 is a perspective of the. housingA for the counter.

In the operation of railways, it isdesirable to ascertain the extent ofthe traffic that passes over any particular location in a track layout,in order to gauge or determine the amount of track wear. For thispurpose, the device of the invention is mounted on one side of the jointbetween two rail sections, and is operable by the wheels of a railwaycar passing over the joint for operating the counter to record thenumber of wheels which have passed over the joints.

The invention is exemplified in a device which is demountably secured onthe rail joint between the meeting ends of a pair of aligned railsections 11 of a railway track. The joint comprises sh plates whichextend across the meeting ends of the rail sections and are clampedagainst the sides of the rail by bolts 12, which extend through holes insaid plates and the vertical web of the rails.

A mounting bracket for the counter and the counter operating devicecomprises an elongated flat plate or bar 16, one face of Which fitsagainst the outer side face of the fish plate il() on the outer sides ofthe rail joint. Plate 16 is provided with holes or slots 17 throughwhich bolts 12 of the rail joint are adapted to pass for demountablysecuring the bracket 15 on one of the fish plates and in fixed relationto the rail sections 11. Bracket 15 includes a platfrom which projectshorizontally outward from the central portion of the lower margin ofplate 16. Platform 1S and plate 16 may be formed of plate metal andwelded together or integrally formed. Platform 16 is adapted to supporta counter or register at the outer side of the track. The counterincludes an enclosing case 20, a series of numeral-wheels 21 in thecase, and a shaft 22 which is suitably connected for oscillation andone-way or step-by-step operation of the numeral-wheels. The counterincludes a unit wheel and multiple wheels to which the units arecarried, as well understood in the art. Lugs 23 are secured on thebottom of case 20 and bolts 24 extend through holes in said lugs andsaid platform to support the counter on said' platform and in fixedrelation to the rail. Arm 25 on shaft 22 is provided for impartingoscillatory strokes to said shaft for operating the numeral-wheels 21stepby-step.

The mechanism for operating the counter-actuating arm 25 on shaft 22comprises a plunger 29 which is supported at the outer side of the railand includes a head 36 with a bevelled top 31 which normally projectsabove the tread of the rail so that the outer portion of the tread ofthe car wheel in passing over the rail joint will depress the plungersubstantially to the level of the tread of the rail sections. Plunger 29has an integral depending stem 32 which is slidably mounted in a socket33 which is' formed in a block 34. Block 34 is rectangular in horizontalcross section, and has its lower end welded to the top face of shelf 18and has one of its sides welded to the outer face of plate 16. Atriangular plate 37 is welded to platform 18 and the outer side of block34 for reinforcing the bracket. The distal end of arm 25 extends into anannular groove 38 adjacent the lower end of the stem 32 of plunger 29. Acompression coil spring 39 is interposed between a collar (lil, whichabuts the upper end of lock 34, and the recessed underface of head: 30of plunger 29.

A cover or housing 42 encloses nd excludes moisture from the counter.This housing is slidably mounted on the platform 18 for its removal whenaccess to the counter for resetting, or for repair. The housingcomprises' a rear side wall 44, a front side wall 45, an outer end wall46, a top wall 47, and a flange 51 underlying the platform 18. Aninclined window 48 is provided between vfront wall 45 and top wall 47 toexpose the numerals indicated on the counter for taking a readingthereof. A bar t9 is welded to the inner face of rear wall 45 and restson' the platform 18. A screw 50 extends through the end wall 46 and isthreaded into a socket in one end of platform 18 for securing the housing on the platform. The inner end of housing 42 is extended as at 53 tooverlie the arm 25 and inner end of shaft 22.

The operation will be as follows: When it is desired to test theoperation of a rail-joint, the bolts 12 are removed from the iish platesand rail sections and plate 16 is applied against the outer face of theouter fish plate. Bolts 12 are then replaced and tightened to securelyattach the bracket 15 to the rail. The head 30 of plunger 29 willproject above the tread of the rail and be disposed in the path of theouter portion of the tread of the car wheels. When a car wheel passesover head 30 in either direction, plunger 29 will be depressed againstthe resistance of spring 39 and stem 32 will be shifted to impart anoperative stroke to arm 25 and shaft 22 of the counter. When the wheelhas passed over the head 30, spring 40 will retract the plunger 29, arm25, and shaft 22. During each oscillation of shaft 22, the counter willbe operated one step so that the number of car wheels passing over therail joint will be indicated by the total on the numerals 21 of thecounter. When the test of the joint has been completed, the bracket 15may be detached by the removal of bolts 12 to permit the bracket 15 tobe removed, the bolts 12 being then restored to complete the rail joint.The bracket 15 and the parts supported thereby can be unitarily andreadily removed and mounted on another rail joint. No change isnecessary in the construction of the rail joint to adapt it for mountingthe counter and its operating mechanism thereon. The housing 42 protectsthe counter and can be removed to provide access to the counting deviceby releasing screw 5t) and sliding the housing endwise olf the platform18.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the detailsdescribed, since these may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

l claim:

1. A traic counter for railways, comprising: a unitary supportingbracket including a side-plate fitting against the outer face of afish-plate between rails, having holes adapted to register with thebolt-holes in the sh-plate for demountably securing the bracket on thefish-plate by the bolts which secure the fish-plate to the rails, aplatform extending transversely outward from and integrally united tothe lower margin of the side-plate, and an upright member integral withthe bracket having a vertical socket therein, and one or" its sidesmerged with the outer face of the side-plate and its lower end mergedwith the upper face of the platform; a plunger slidable in said socket,having its upper end normally positioned in the path of a car-wheel onthe rail; a coil spring between said member and the plunger; a countingdevice mounted on the platform and including an operating shaftextending transversely of the rails and over the platform; and an arm onsaid shaft having its distal end operatively connected to the plunger.

2. A traffic counter for railways, comprising: a unitary supportingbracket including a side-plate fitting against the outer face of afish-plate between rails, having holes adapted to register with thebolt-holes in the fish-plate for demountably securing the bracket on thefish-plate by the bolts which secure the sh-plate to the rails, aplatform extending transversely outward from and integrally united tothe lower margin of the side-plate, and an upright member integral withthe bracket having a vertical socket therein, and one of its sidesmerged with the outer face of the side-plate and its lower end mergedwith the upper face of the platform; a plunger slidable in said socket,having its upper end normally positioned in the path of a car-wheel onthe rail, and its lower end provided with an annular groove; a coilspring between said member and the plunger; a counting device mount- 4ed on the platform and including an operating shaft extendingtransversely of the rails and over the platform; and an arm on saidshaft having its distal end extending into said groove.

3. A tralic counter for railways, comprising: a unitary supportingbracket including a side-plate fitting against the outer face of aiish-plate between rails, having holes adapted to register with thebolt-holes in the fish-plates for demountably securing the bracket onthe ish-plate by the bolts which secure the fish-plate to the rails, aplatform extending transversely outward from and integrally united tothe lower margin of the side-plate, and an upright member integral withthe bracket having a vertical socket therein, one of its sides mergedwith the outer face of the side-plate and its lower end merged with theupper face of the platform; a plunger slidable in said socket, havingits upper end normally positioned in the path of a car-Wheel on therail, and its lower end provided with an annular groove; a coil springbetween said member and the plunger; a counting device mounted on theplatform and including an operating shaft extending transversely of therails and over the platform; an arm on said shaft having its distal endoperatively connected to the plunger; and a housing having a top andsides tting around the sides and outer end of the platform, and meansfor demountably securing the housing on the platform.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,294,700 Peterson ..2 Feb. 18, 1919 1,369,063 Thayer Feb. 22, 19211,418,660 Lawhead June 6, 1922 1,446,369 Zimmermann Feb. 20, 19231,542,297 Gramm June 16, 1925 1,970,873 Wright et al Aug. 21, 19342,310,114 Poole Feb. 2, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,371 Great Britain 191021,386 Austria Sept. 25, 1905

